Don’t let the name fool you: Michael Mann’s Heat is cold as ice in its delivery. Filled with almost three hours of violence, thrills, and looks into the unfortunates of the human condition (infidelity and poor mental health just to name a few), Heat is 100% unapologetic in its directness. It’s the quintessential 90’s crime movie that is just as grand as it was almost three decades ago. Now, Michael Mann, who is fresh off Ferrari starring Adam Driver and has since given an update on the status of Heat 2, isn’t sugar coating why he’s excited for the prequel sequel.
It’s obvious that Michael Mann is a total connoisseur of thrill and how time makes things sweeter. In an interview with NME, it’s mentioned he not only fell in love with Ferraris (the actual car), but he even participated in amateur races himself, which of course helped inspire him for the Ferrari project that he’s been a part of since the 1990s. So, with how epic Ferrari turned out, it’s not shocking that he is spending just as much time to make the follow-up to Heat come to life in the best way. But, his motivation for Heat 2 isn’t just through his own love for the story – it’s also through how viewers’ tastes have (and haven’t) changed, and yes commentary on superhero movies is involved with this.
Here’s what the legendary director had to say:
Heat’s a huge brand. And there’s some studies that I’ve done within the industry… people are kind of getting tired of superhero movies and are becoming more interested in pictures like Heat, if you like. But it’s been a huge brand in Warner Brothers home video for the last 20 years in terms of rentals. So we found that out when I wrote Heat 2, the novel… it was the first week out, it was instantly a number one New York Times bestseller.
If the news about Heat 2 itself wasn’t exciting enough, in the interview, Adam Driver shared that he has already talked to Michael Mann, and would be willing to team up again so he could play a young version of Robert De Niro’s Neil McCauley. That means if he is willing to jump right into such a role, there are endless possibilities of who else could be included to take on what many consider one of the best films of 1995. It’s all speculation for now on who would play the iconic role, but this just adds to the hype of Heat 2 going back to basics with the coolness, toughness, and humanness that has kept the original so popular and viewers seem to want more of.
It’s no secret how influential Heat is, and that it’s coming to fruition during a time when superhero movies haven’t been revered as much as they once were. In fact, some of the most recent poor performers like The Marvels and The Flash seemingly show that audiences have superhero fatigue and are looking for different types of movies and new storylines. This, despite there being plenty of upcoming Marvel movies still in the pipeline. If Michael Mann’s predictions are correct, Heat 2 can be the thing that reinvigorates audiences and sets off a new era for crime and action thrillers.
